The Endless Steppe

The Endless Steppe
Esther Hautzig

HarperCollins 1968

Esther and her family are Polish Jewish people, caught in the middle of the German/Russian invasion of Poland in the beginning of WWII. The Russians capture the Rudomins (Esther's family), not for being Jews but for being capitalists. The Rudomins find themselves cramped into a cattle car on a train for two months only to arrive at a gypsum mine in Siberia. Not long after being there, however, the German's invade Russia and Russia is forced to ally with Britain and therefore Poland. So the Polish deportees are granted amnesty. A true autobiography, Esther tells the story of her family after the hardships of confinement and slavery are over and their struggle for survival in the middle of nowhere.

WARNING: Death and famine from war.

Personal opinion:

I really liked this book. I've read a lot of war books about people and their trials during their confinement, but not after. It made me realize that people had it just as bad and were just as prone to die "free" after their release. It's extremely realistic, obviously, with very unfortunate occurances, but it's a beautiful story and it's written like Esther Hautzig was sitting right in front of you telling her story to your face. It also adds another aspect to WWII that isn't heard about much, at least for me.